What Happened to Restaurant City?

Restaurant City was a Facebook restaurant simulation game developed by Playfish. Players built a restaurant, arranged furniture, selected dishes, hired workers, and served customers inside a social game loop built around friends. The game stood out because restaurant design was a major part of play, not just a background system.

Players could visit friends, collect ingredients, improve recipes, and expand their restaurants over time. Progress came from a mix of decoration, menu development, staffing, and repeat daily play. That combination gave the game a strong identity during the early Facebook gaming era.

Restaurant City entered public beta on April 28, 2009. It arrived when social games on Facebook were growing quickly and helped define how management games could blend customization with friend based activity. Its appeal came from letting players treat the space as both a game system and a personal creative project.

Electronic Arts acquired Playfish in November 2009. Restaurant City continued operating under that ownership, but the game was later retired. On May 1, 2012, players were informed that Restaurant City would close on June 29, 2012.

The shutdown ended the original live version of the game and removed access to restaurants that players had built over several years. For many players, the lasting memory was not only the management loop but the way the game turned decorating, collecting, and visiting friends into one shared experience. That mix is the clearest reason Restaurant City remained memorable after its retirement.